Jackson Manley is born :)

Hello again my Journey of Hope friends. Well I am delighted to say I have a new beautiful healthy grandson born Feb 20, 2018, 7 lbs 8 oz. His name is Jack. Mom and baby are both doing well. We all feel very thankful for this little boy who will bring our family great joy. So today, on another note, I am going to the other end of life’s spectrum. I found some great wisdom in the book “Resisting Happiness” to share with you all. Again one of Matthew Kelly’s great writings. Let’s pose the question “When was the last time you you paused to really think about your life”? Now I am not trying to be morbid here in any way, but one of the ways to think about life is to pause and think about death. If you only had 8 months to live, most likely you would live the 8 months differently then you were planning to. That’s why, every now and then, when we reflect upon death, this inevitability can lead us to live our lives differently, to rearrange our priorities. If you knew you only had 8 months to live, this news can bring great clarity to us, some things are either very important or not important at all. When Matthew Kelly spent time with a group of hospice RN’s he asked them “when people are dying, what do they talk about”? The RN’s said that often people tell them that they wished they’d lived their lives differently. Here are 24 things that those RN’s shared that dying people wish they had done differently. I wish I’d had the courage to just be myself. I wish I’d spent more time with the people I love. I wish I had made spirituality more of a priority. I wish I hadn’t spent so much time working. I wish I had discovered my purpose earlier. I wish I had learned to express my feelings more. I wish I hadn’t spent so much time worrying about things that never happened. I wish I had taken more risks. I wish I had cared less about what other people thought. I wish I had realized earlier that happiness is a choice. I wish I had loved more. I wish I had taken better care of myself. I wish I had been a better spouse. I wish I had paid less attention to other people’s expectations. I wish I had quit my job and found something I really enjoyed doing. I wish I had stayed in touch with old friends. I wish I had spoken my mind more. I wish I hadn’t spent so much time chasing the wrong things. I wish I’d had more children. I wish I had touched more lives. I wish I thought about life’s big question earlier. I wish I had traveled more. I wish I had lived more in the moment. I wish I had pursued more of my dreams. There are the regrets of dying people, people who are out of time. Each of these contains powerful lessons for those of us who are still living. It is good and healthy to think about death from time to time. It puts things in perspective and reminds us of what is important in life. This is just a little more food for thought from this great book for you to chew on a bit. So let’s be thankful for all our many great blessings and continue to live our lives to the fullest. Take care, Love MJ. xoxo